Republicans Remember Rosa Parks For ‘her role in ending racism’

In a controversial tweet on December 1, 2013, the GOP posted, “Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism. pic.twitter.com/uxIj1QmtkU”

Followers immediately responded questioning when did racism end? It’s obvious that racism is still alive and well. At times it may appear hidden but can sometimes be blatant still today.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks did something that gave her a permanent spot in history. 58 years ago, Ms. Parks refused to move from her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama to give it to a white male passenger. Because of her defiance she was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law which required black people to give their seats to whites whenever the bus was full. She wasn’t the first to disobey the Alabama law but the timing of this particular incident was perfect to spark a year-long boycott of the transportation system by African Americans. The boycott ended 13 months later after the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate city buses.

Because of the outcome of the boycott, Rosa Parks became known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”.

In an interview with Scholastic in 1997, Ms. Parks had this to say when asked if relationships between races were where they should be, ‘There is still as much racism among some people. It still exists, but we are not under the legally enforced segregation that we used to be. There are still people who are prejudiced because of race.’

The modern day Civil Rights Movement continues as we fight against new struggles, social injustices, mass incarceration, quality education and police brutality, among other concerns. While we have overcome some major issues with segregation, we still have a long way to go in the fight to end racism and discrimination, IF it is even possible.